COLUMBUS — Gov. Mitch Daniels has announced that the Federal Emergency Management Agency has approved the state’s request for a 30-day extension for 41 counties to apply for federal public assistance.

“Hoosiers showed America how a state can come together to respond to a natural disaster,” said Daniels. “It is essential that we do an equally effective job at recovery and helping people and communities put life back together.”

The governor made the announcement during a stop in Columbus, where he received an update on recovery efforts and toured the mobile emergency room unit Carolinas MED-1 that is on location at the Columbus Regional Hospital.

The list of Indiana counties approved for public assistance includes Adams, Bartholomew, Benton, Brown, Clay, Daviess, Decatur, Fountain, Franklin, Gibson, Greene, Hancock, Hendricks, Henry, Jackson, Jay, Jefferson, Jennings, Johnson, Knox, Madison, Marion, Monroe, Montgomery, Morgan, Ohio, Owen, Parke, Pike, Posey, Putnam, Randolph, Ripley, Rush, Shelby, Sullivan, Switzerland, Union, Vermillion, Vigo and Washington.

The public assistance declaration means state government and local governments and certain non-profit organizations in these counties are now eligible to apply for federal public assistance funds to pay at least 75 percent of the approved cost of debris removal, emergency services related to the disaster and repairing or replacing damaged public facilities, such as roads, buildings and utilities.

A map of all counties that have been declared eligible for public assistance and the extended deadlines is available here at http://www.in.gov/gov/files/Approved_for_Public_Assistance.pdf.